Follow the author of this article

Follow the topics within this article

Swedish prosecutors may seek extradition of Julian Assange from the United Kingdom in connection with allegations of sexual assault.

The decision means Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, may have to decide whether to extradite him to Sweden or to the United States, where he is wanted on suspicion of hacking into a Pentagon computer.

Eva-Marie Persson, Sweden's deputy director of public prosecutions, said a preliminary investigation into allegations of sexual assault against Mr Assange would be reopened because there is now a realistic prospect of bringing the case to a conclusion.

"There is still a probable cause to suspect that Assange committed a rape," she said at a press conference. She added: "It is my assessment that a new questioning of Assange is required."

She said a request for extradition would be filed with the UK if a Swedish court finds grounds to detain him in absentia.

Mr Assange was arrested at the Embassy of Ecuador in London on April 11, after the central American country withdrew political asylum. He had lived in the building for seven years.

He is currently being held in Belmarsh prison, where he is serving a 50-week sentence for jumping bail in 2012.

He is also being held on a US extradition warrant for allegedly hacking into a Pentagon computer.

If there are competing extradition requests from Sweden and the United States, Mr Javid would be expected to take the final decision on which request has priority.

Mr Assange's Swedish lawyer, Per Samuelson, said he thought it was "completely crazy".

"I think Sweden is shaming itself by take up this investigation in this way," he told Swedish state broadcaster SVT.

He said that Mr Assange had always wanted to cooperate with Swedish prosecutors, and had only avoided travelling to Sweden due to his fear of being extradited to the US.

Wikileaks said the decision would give Mr Assange a chance to clear his name.

"Since Julian Assange was arrested on 11 April 2019, there has been considerable political pressure on Sweden to reopen their investigation, but there has always been political pressure surrounding this case," Kristinn Hrafnsson, Wikileaks' editor-in-chief said in a statement.

"Its reopening will give Julian a chance to clear his name," he added.

The assault allegations relate to complaints made by two Swedish women who said they were the victims of sex crimes committed by Mr Assange in 2010.

He has denied the allegations, asserting that they were politically motivated and that the sex was consensual.

Swedish prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation and issued a European arrest warrant for Mr Assange after he visited the country in 2010.

He was arrested later that year in London before being released on bail. In 2012 he was granted asylum by Ecuador and moved into the country's London embassy.

The 47-year-old Australian met the women in connection with a lecture in August 2010 in Stockholm. One was involved in organizing an event for Sweden's center-left Social Democratic Party and offered to host Assange at her apartment. The other was in the audience.

A police officer who heard the women's accounts decided there was reason to suspect they were victims of sex crimes and handed the case to a prosecutor.